Joy Askew was born and raised in northern England. After many years there, she moved to New York City in 1982. She played keyboards and sang with many artists including fellow Brits Joe Jackson, Peter Gabriel, Jack Bruce and performance artist Laurie Anderson. Askew can be seen in Anderson's quintessential performance film "Home of the Brave". Tender City was her first major released CD in 1996, Askew made this with Shane Fontayne and mixed by Mike Shipley.